Amazon Balances Big-Box Expansion With New Layoff Plans

Amazon ( (AMZN) ) has been popular among investors this week. Here is a recap of the key news on this stock.

Amazon is pushing ahead with a new large-format retail concept while simultaneously tightening its workforce, sending mixed signals to investors watching the stock for growth and efficiency moves. Planning documents reveal that Amazon has applied for approval to build a 225,000-square-foot big-box store in Orland Park, a Chicago suburb, designed to serve both walk-in shoppers and online order fulfillment. The site would sell groceries and general merchandise, include prepared food and dining areas, and feature dedicated space for delivery drivers—an attempt to blend physical and digital shopping. The project fits into Amazon’s renewed focus on physical retail and grocery, including expanding Whole Foods locations and offering faster delivery for everyday essentials, although it still requires full local approval and has no confirmed opening date.

At the same time, reports suggest Amazon is preparing layoffs of roughly 1,000 to 2,500 employees in the U.S. as it reshapes its workforce for 2026. The company has not yet filed WARN notices, which is consistent with its practice of providing severance or paid notice periods before making such filings public. The layoff headlines weighed slightly on Amazon’s share price, which dipped in pre-market trading after a nearly 2% rally the previous day, though the stock remains up 6.7% year-to-date and 12.49% over the past 12 months. Despite near-term noise around headcount cuts, Wall Street’s view remains overwhelmingly positive: AMZN carries a Strong Buy consensus from analysts, with 46 Buys and just one Hold, and an average price target around $294.55 per share implying roughly 19–20% upside from current levels.